A is for Aden and Z is for Zanzabar

A is for Aden and Z is for Zanzibar... Now what is between? For the world wide classical era philatelist and stamp collector, a country specific philatelic survey is offered by the blog author, Jim Jackson, with two albums: Big Blue, aka Scott International Part 1 (checklists available), and Deep Blue, aka William Steiner's Stamp Album Web PDF pages. In addition, "Bud" offers commentary and a look at his completely filled Big Blue. Interested? So into the Blues...

Thursday, April 28, 2011

Quick History
The British Solomon Islands consist of 10 large islands and additional small islands in the west Pacific Ocean east of Papua. A Protectorate, the population was 94,000 in 1931, with the seat of government in Tulagi, although the Capital is now Honiara. The Solomon Islands achieved independence in 1978.

Cultural Interest: The Papuan speaking settlers are believed to have arrived around 30,000 BC; while the Austronesian speakers arrived around 4000 BC bringing the outrigger canoe.

Big Blue Picture
Big Blue ('97) on two pages has 34 stamp spaces for 1907-39. The 2011 Scott Classic Specialized catalogue has 76 major number descriptions. Coverage by Big Blue is 45%.

Big Blue starts off with the "war canoe" Scott 1 & 2 ($10+-$20+) a highly attractive design. Yes they are fairly expensive, but I believe definitely worth the inclusion.

Many British Solomon Island stamps are a bit pricey; but I did find another 8 stamps for $2+-$5+. Also, Big Blue does not include the 1935 Silver jubilee issue; and those additional four stamps are $1+-$10+.

I will now say a "little" here about British territories watermarks. As many of you know, there were four watermarks used prior to 1940 on many British colony stamps ( named wmk 1, wmk 2, wmk 3, wmk 4 obviously!). Although Big Blue deliberately ignores watermarks to telescope several Scott numbers into one space, the Big Blue collector still has to be familiar with these watermarks to know "which" stamp the collector is putting into the space. After all, one doesn't want to give away a "duplicate" for pennies, when it might be worth dollars. :-)

The 2011 Scott Classic Specialized on 39A has an illustration of the four watermarks ( plus more that were issued after 1940); and no doubt one can find them illustrated in other Scott catalogues too. It behooves the Big Blue collector to become familiar with these watermarks, as they occur so commonly over so many different British colony issues.

Now the good news: they are generally easy to spot! Just turn the stamp over on a black surface, and there they are!

As an introduction; here is watermark 4 commonly used around the years 1921-1952. It shows a "multiple crown" and a script "C A". "CA" means "Crown Agents". The crown design is unique for wmk 4, and the "scriptive" as opposed to "printed" reversed "C A" is a dead giveaway.

Here is how wmk 4 looks...

Wmk 4: A crown is visible to the right, left, and below the "No 230"; while the reverse script "C A" can be seen above the "No 230", and below the right crown. Click on the image to make it larger.

Finally, there is a bit of a puzzler in Big Blue's stamp space layout that might confuse. The 1913 King George V issue is inscribed "postage-postage" and is wmk 3. No problem there. Then Big Blue presents the 1914-31 King George V issue inscribed "postage-revenue", wmk 4. But take a look at Scott 23 1/1/2p scarlet: yes it is wmk 4, BUT it is inscribed "postage-postage". There is no alert in Big Blue that the "postage-revenue" design for the spaces does not include the 1 1/2p scarlet. Now you know.

Additionals....

1908-11 "war canoe"
12($2+)

1914-23
37($5+)

1922-31
54($5+)

1935 Silver jubilee
60,61,62,63,($1+-$10+)

1939
76,77,79,($2+-$5+)

Postage Due
1940
J1,J2,($5+)

The 1914-31 King George V issue: The Scott 45 1p violet is inscribed "postage-revenue" as expected, while the Scott 23 1 1/2p scarlet is inscribed "postage-postage"!

Finially, almost all the British colonies issued a lengthy pictorial series around 1938-39 depicting "native"scenes, flora, fauna or geography. These are highly attractive stamps, and usually not that expensive.

Wednesday, April 27, 2011

One should be aware of a printing error in Austria in the latest Big Blue 1997 edition . Interesting, because the error only exists in the 1997 edition, and not in my 1969,1947 or 1941 editions. Very curious. It is found in the 1922-24 "Symbols of Art and Science" issue and involves the stamp space for the Scott 292 200k dark violet stamp. This stamp comes in no other color than dark violet. Yet the stamp space description runs thus: 200k "deep green". Of interest is the adjacent stamp space on the left for the Scott 291 100k deep green is correctly described as 100k "deep green". Somehow it appears the color description for the 100k stamp was also put in the 200k stamp space.

The '41,'47, and '69 Big Blues have the correct description for the 200K. Notice the larger Font.

The '97 Big Blue with the "Deep Green" descriptive error on the 200K space. Note the smaller Font.

A closer look reveals a change in the size of the Font in the '97 edition. Clearly there had to be some hand work/computer work done for the Font change in the '97, and an error was made. I'm not knowledgeable about printing set-up; perhaps someone has an opinion how this error occurred?

So the larger question: are there other "changeling's" out there in the '97 Big Blue? :-)

Addendum 5-2-11: An even closer look reveals some font changes as outlined above, while other page fonts are the same with previous editions. In Austria, it appears the font is smaller in the '97 edition compared to previous ('69,'47,'41) editions for 1908-13,1916,1922-24, and the first page of the semi-postals in Austria. Most of the fonts though appear to be the same as previous editions.

Monday, April 25, 2011

Quick History
British Honduras, with the Capital Belmopan, is on the Caribbean adjacent to Guatemala and Mexico in Central America. It was a colony under Jamaica in 1862; and in 1884 it became an independent colony. Population was about 50,000 in 1931. In 1981, Belize became fully independent, the last continental colony in the Americas to do so from Great Britain.Historical fact: The major export was mahogany, which required labor intensive logging. This lead to an increase in the importation of slaves, mainly from the British Caribbean colonies. Slavery was finally abolished in 1838.

1922 Scott 90 4c dark gray

"Seal of the Colony & George V"

Big Blue PictureBig Blue( 1997), on three pages covering 1888-1938, has 63 spaces for regular, postage due, and war tax stamps. The 2011 Scott Classic Specialized catalogue has 135 major descriptive numbers from 1866-1940. Coverage by Big Blue is 47%.Big Blue's 63 stamp selection is reasonable with many <$1; and the most one would have to spend would be $5+.I did find 10 additional British Honduras that could be had for $1+ to $10+ for a classic Scott 13 1884 1p blue. There are 7 more stamps (<$1-$2+) that can be picked up from the "choices" in the checklist.Additionals....1882-8713($10+),14($10+),15($5+)188831($10+)1902-1910 Edward Vll61($5+) and choices not picked up in Checklist.74($5+)1921 King George V91 ($5+)1921-33100($5+)1938123($1+)War Tax1916-18MR2($1+)

Click on the image above to get a fine view of the Scott 87 5c 'Moire" overprint : A thin network pattern overprinted to prevent counterfeiting.

Thursday, April 21, 2011

Quick History
Located on the northeast coast of South America, this British Crown Colony had a population of 360,000 in the 1940's. The Capital was Georgetown. In 1814, three Dutch possessions were given over to Great Britain and consolidated into British Guiana in 1831. Guyana became independent in 1966.

British Guiana/ Guyana

Philatelic and Historical Memories
As a child with a stamp collection, who doesn't remember the image of the 1856 British Guiana 1c magenta, the "world's most famous stamp"? Imperforate with a sailing ship design, with the Latin inscription "Damus Petimus Que Vicissim" (We give and expect in return), one only needed to check the attic for similar treasures. Enticed by this vision of fabulous riches, one was then encouraged to send away for "approvals". Do you remember which Stamp company offered that?

The second memory, much more dark, was the 1978 murder/mass suicide of 918 Americans in Jonestown.

1934 Scott 212 3c carmine

"Alluvial Gold Mining"

Big Blue Picture
Big Blue (1997), on two pages, has 48 stamp spaces for the 1860-1938 issues. The 2011 Scott Classic Specialized catalogue has 247 major stamp descriptions from 1850-1938. Coverage by Big Blue is 19%.

Big Blue's offerings, 48 stamps, range through a reasonable <$1-$10+. But the Big Blue collector, looking at the "Big Blue picture", gets short shrift. You see, there are 39 additional beautifully designed British Guiana's available for <$1-$5+. Add seven more classic era stamps ($5+-$20+), and there is a doubling (46 total) of reasonably priced stamps that would attract the Big Blue collector.

Kinds of Blue
The 1969 and 1997 editions are identical.
The "97 and "69 editions have more coverage of the classical era: specifically 1860-75 Scott 46 or 51 or 59 2c orange and Scott 52 4c blue; 1889-1903 Scott 136 5c ultramarine and Scott 139 8c lilac & rose. These stamps are NOT in the '47 and '41 editions.

The 1891 Scott 5c ultramarine-and three of it's brethren-are found in the '97 & '69 editions.

Big Blue Bottom Line

I really like the British Guiana designed stamps, so I wouldn't mind a few more. ;-)

Quick History
The philatelic history of British East Africa and the British East Africa Company activities are closely intertwined here. Essentially, British East Africa consisted of all the territory in East Africa under control of the British. The British East Africa Company issued stamps from 1890 through 1895. Then India Stamps 1874-95 were overprinted "British East Africa" or surcharged in 1895. The "British East Africa Protectorate" stamps were issued in 1896 and 1898, while the stamps of Zanzibar were overprinted "British East Africa" in 1897. Finally, the territory was incorporated as the East Africa and Uganda Protectorate. With Kenya, the area was known as the Kenya Colony. Got all that?

1890 Scott 14b 1/2a deep brown

"Sun and Symbol of "Light and Purity""

Into the Deep Blue
The 2017 Scott Classic 1840-1940 catalogue has, for British East Africa 1890-1901, 96 major number descriptions. Of those, 5 are CV <$1-$1+, or ~5%. Clearly, it is not a cheap philatelic country. Raising the bar to CV $5+, yields 15 stamps, or ~ 15%. British East Africa is more of a specialty "dead" country that requires resources and interest.

A closer look
16 Annas = 1 Rupee

1891 Scott 18 3a black/red

"Sun and Symbol of "Light and Purity""

A large lithographic issue of seventeen stamps (major numbers) was released between 1890-1894.

They all have a design of the crown hovering over the sun.

1890 Scott 25 1r rose

"Sun and Symbol of "Light and Purity""

CV for the issue ranges from $1+ to $10+ for fourteen stamps.

There is a note in Scott that states stamps with natural straight edges are almost as common as fully perforated stamps. Values are about the same.

1896 Scott 76 2 1/2a dark blue

"Queen Victoria and British Lions"

Between 1896-1901, a sixteen stamp issue with the above design was released.

CV ranges from <$1 to $10+ for ten stamps.

Note that this issue has some stamps overprinted later with "Zanzibar". Scroll down for example.

Big Blue (1997) has one line on one page with eight stamp spaces from 1890-1896. The 2011 Scott Classic Specialized catalogue has 96 major stamp descriptions for 1890-1898. Big Blue's coverage is 8%.

Eight stamps are given a place by Big Blue at a quite reasonable <$1-$5+.

Big Blue does not cover the early (1890) Queen Victoria's ($230+ minimum), the handstamped 1891-95 surcharged stamps ($20+ minimum), the 1895 India overprinted/surcharged stamps ($2+minimum-I include some below), the 1897 Zanzibar overprinted issue ($20+ minimum), or the 1898 BCA Protectorate stamps ($40+ minimum) Obviously one could have a lot of fun with these issues, but the wallet would be thin.

Eight additional BCA stamps ($2+-$5+) that could be considered by the Big Blue collector...
1890-94 British East Africa Company
17 ($5+)

Note: As I was uploading some camera pics of British East Africa stamps, I noticed the pic showed a red "Zanzibar" overprint on the 1896-1903 2 1/2 anna dark blue! ;-) In my defense, these stamps were sold as a lot of British East Africa. Of course, I examined the stamp again, and yes one can see the overprint, but it is not obvious. The camera shows the overprint more clearly. The image is directly below.

Chartered from British South Africa, this British Territory in Central Africa was located on the western shore of Lake Nyassa, with the Capital Zomba. The population was 1,600,000. The name (and the stamps) was changed to Nyasaland Protectorate in 1907.

Big Blue Picture

British Central Africa is represented in Big Blue (1997) by one line on one page with 7 stamp spaces for 1891-1907. The 2011 Scott Classic Specialized catalogue for the same time period has 73 major stamp descriptions. Coverage by Big Blue is 9+%.

"BCA" stamps are not found much in Big Blue collections. Why? The stamps in the Scott Classic catalogue tend to be expensive- from the $10's to $100's to 1891-95 Scott 17 ten pound red brown @ $4,000+! The seven "checklist" stamps are more reasonable at <$1-$10+. An additional six stamps listed below can be had for $2+-$5+.

Thursday, April 14, 2011

I have a mess on my hands. And there is enough blame to go around. Big Blue doesn't provide enough spaces, but I share the fault too. You see, I would like to collect the World, but not necessarily check every perforation or watermark. So Brazil has given me my "Waterloo". ;-)

In three of the Big Blue's I've acquired , I've come across a huddled mass of 1920-41 Brazilian Definitives; no place to go, no place to hide. The Orphanage.

How did this happen?

Well, Big Blue gives us, for the Brazilian definitives, under "1920-24" (ignoring the remaining 17 years of the series), 14 spaces, devoted, of course, to the early issues and colors. How many stamps in total were issued in the series?

125. ......!!!!!!!!!!!!!

What results, as one would expect, is usually a sloppy mess:

Buddy, can you spare a space?

Placing wrong colors and designs and denominations for the early issues wherever they will fit, and the use of every available space. Can you really blame the poor collector? And the rest gets moved into "The Orphanage".

But there are two things we as conscientious Big Blue collectors can do.

1) Assure the correct stamp IS put in the measly 14 spaces provided by Big Blue. We will refer to these stamps as "The Chosen". Of course we know "The Chosen" simply were the first issues of the series, and are no better than "The Orphans" that came later. Big Blue simply never added space for the many collectible stamps in the series after 1925.

2) There are LOTS of collectible Orphans based on a change in design for the denomination, or a change in color. And there are Denominations that NEVER had a space in Big Blue, and they can be collected too. And the good news: one doesn't have to necessarily check the watermark or perforation to do this. :-)

So can one reliably collect by color?

In some cases yes when there is clearly an obvious color choice. But we all know that the earlier issues ( And Brazil is certainly no exception), can have a palette of colors surrounding the "official" color. Do those 100r "turquoise-blue's" above all have the "same" color. They "should".

Then there is the matter of identifying the color......

Which one is Dull Blue, Blue, or Ultramarine; and are some of the tints simply a color variation due to idiosyncratic production or the environment?

Parenthetically, speaking of color differences, the 2011 Scott Classic Specialized catalogue illustrates a "red-violet" that looks like a combination of the two tints shown above. Another cautionary tale about using color as a criteria...

1) "Chosen": A74=Industry "brown-violet". Scott 220, or 229. Two issues (within Big Blue's 1920-24 dates), issued 1920-22. In Big Blue, the space is illustrated, but the "brown-violet" color is the only choice. There is a third issue, Scott 328 "brown-violet" Wmk 222 issued in 1934. This issue would have to be excluded ( by checking watermark) if one wishes to stay in Big Blue's 1920-24 year boundaries. The other choice is not checking the watermark, and including it in the 'brown-violet" color choice. I'm fine with that as Big Blue's specified dates are clearly arbitrary; and end prematurely.

1) "Chosen": A74= Industry 50r "blue-green". Scott 221 or 240($4+). Two issues between 1920-24. Because of Big Blue's date specification, and because this was the early issue, the A75 "blue-green", an orphan, should NOT be put into this space.

1) "Chosen": A75 100r "orange". Scott 224 or 243 or 269, three issues between 1922-24. There are actually three more issues ( Scott 332,434,462) between 1931-38 that are 'orange". If you want to exclude them ( because of Big Blue's date criteria), you will need to watermark the "oranges".

2) "Orphan": A75 100r "red orange" Scott 277 1924-28.

3) "Orphan" A75 100r "yellow-orange" Scott 470 and 490, two issues 1939-41. You can see from the above photo that the "yellow-orange" is a Perf 11, which is a necessary, but not sufficient constraint. I would need to watermark the stamp for absolute confirmation.

1) "Chosen": A76=Mercury 300r "olive-gray". Scott 228 or 249 and 279?. Scott 228 and 279 were issued in 1920-22. Scott 279 was issued in 1925, so misses Big Blue's date "cutoff"by one year. But I think the stamp should be included. If you don't agree, then you will need to watermark (Wmk 101) the 1925 stamp to exclude it. Big Blue has an illustration for this space; but based on dates, this is the color Mercury stamp that should go in.

1) "Chosen": A76 500r "red-brown". Scott 230 , 253 and 281., three issues from 1920-1924. These issues satisfy the "date" criteria. But there is also a 500r "red-brown" Scott 337 and 463B from 1934-1938. One will need to watermark (Wmk 222 and 245) the "red-browns" to exclude these; or admit all "red-browns" into the Big Blue space.

3) "Orphan" A76 500r "light-brown". Scott 438; one issue 1936-37. The "light-brown" in the photo above has the correct (Perf 11) perforation. Nevertheless, one should watermark (Wmk 249) this stamp for certainty.

A77=Navigation 600r "red-orange", and A76=Mercury 600r "brown-orange"

600r

1) "Chosen": A77=Navigation 600r "red-orange". Big Blue has the illustration. Scott 231 and 282; two issues from 1920-1926. Yes the Scott 282 was issued in 1926; and one would need to exclude this stamp by watermarking (Wmk101), if Big Blue's dates are strictly kept. But recall these "dates" are because Big Blue never reformatted their initial page-space-date layout for the Brazilian definitives. It's arbitrary. It's in.

2) "Orphan": A76 100r "turquoise-blue". Scott 257,311,322,340,441,474 and 494, from 1929-1941. A Definitive with wide use, having had seven editions over 13 years, and Scott does not give it a space? This has to be a record. I guess I should be grateful since Big Blue does provide a whole page for the "postal tax" stamp. ;-) (Obviously, I'm making a comment about misplaced priorities.)

2000r

1) "Orphan": A72=Education 2000r "dull violet". Scott 233 and 283; two issues from 1920-1926. No room for the 2000r in Big Blue, even with <$1 cost.

2) "Orphan" A72 2000r "violet" Scott 404; one issue in 1934.

3) "Orphan" A72 2000r "blue-violet". Scott 458; one issue in 1938.

A89=Ruy Barbosa 5000r "violet-blue"

5000r

1) "Orphan": A72=Education 5000r "brown. Scott 234($11) and 284(<$1); two issues from 1920-1926. No space in Big Blue for the 5000r issues, even though inexpensive.

2) "Orphan": A89=Ruy Barbosa 5000r "blue-violet". Scott 405($1+), one issue in 1936. Note: There is a 1929 issue Scott 300 ( Wmk 101) that would need to be excluded.

So, how many "collectible" stamps are there in the 1920-41 definitives, even if perforations, and watermarks are not examined? I counted 53 stamp "types". Of course each stamp"type" might represent one to many Scott numbers, based on watermark and perforations. Big Blue provides a meager 14 spaces. Then, an additional 39 stamp "types" for these Brazilian definitives that can be added by the Big Blue Collector. All is not lost then; many of these stamps can be removed from the "Orphanage", and given their own space. But until one is willing to check all the "Orphanage" stamps- even so called 'duplicates"- for watermarks and perforations, one will need to keep the Orphanage open. :-)

Finally, the two photos below illustrate how Big Blue's "Chosen" stamps SHOULD look like on the album page.